Chandigarh, June 16: Punjab Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sibin C on Monday reviewed arrangements for the Ludhiana (West) Assembly bypoll with 174,437 electorates, comprising 84,825 women and 10 third-gender voters, to cast votes on June 19. A total of 194 polling booths will be set up at 66 locations.
These include 10 model polling booths, one all-women, one eco-friendly and one booth operated by Public Works Department (PWD) staff.
Additionally, 13 booths have been declared critical, where paramilitary forces will be deployed. To facilitate senior citizens, persons with disabilities and voters with medical issues, home voting was conducted with 239 participating in the process.
The CEO said voting will take place on June 19 from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and counting of votes will begin at 8 a.m. on June 23 at Khalsa College for Women in Ludhiana.
He said security checkpoints have been established at 54 locations across the constituency, and all activities are being closely monitored by the security forces.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Election Officer Himanshu Jain, Commissioner of Police Swapan Sharma, and Returning Officer Rupinder Pal Singh.
The CEO instructed the district officials to exercise heightened vigilance in the final phase of the election process. He emphasised strict surveillance before polling and until the election process concludes.
Sibin C directed that all outsiders, including politicians, must vacate the constituency area as the election campaign ends at 6 p.m. on June 17.
He also emphasized strengthening 24×7 surveillance through CCTV to curb illegal distribution or smuggling of liquor, cash, drugs, or other inducements.
The Ludhiana (West) bypoll comes in the wake of the death of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator Gurpreet Gogi Bassi, who lost his life on January 10 after an accidental fire at his residence.
A total of fourteen candidates are in the fray with prominent faces are Bharat Bhushan of the Congress, advocate Parupkar Singh Ghuman of the Shiromani Akali Dal, Sanjeev Arora of the Aam Aadmi Party and Jiwan Gupta of the BJP.
IANS
